The Woman in the Window

By A.J. Finn

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The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Released: January 2, 2018

Pages: 455

Publisher: William Morrow

Overall: 4.5/5

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Setting & World-building: 5/5

Emotional Investment: 5/5

"Alcohol is the anesthesia by which we endure the operation of life"

HOLY CRAP. This was one hell of a good book. I stayed up until like 1 am to finish it because not finishing wasn't an option.

Quick Summary: This is a book in which I really think everyone should go in blind. But it's basically a psychological thriller about Dr. Anna Fox, a child psychologist struggling with severe agoraphobia (fear of open spaces often due to lack of control) forcing her to be trapped in her house for the past ten months who also drinks too much and abuses her medications. But one day a new family moves in next door and Anna sees something that everybody says didn't happen the next day. Is she imagining things? Or has she been caught in the cross-fire of a bigger issue?

I honestly don't even know where to begin. First of the writing style is so fun to read. It's almost written like a diary with each date and then the corresponding chapters which include the events of that date. While I liked the writing style, the plot, in the beginning, was quite slow. I got that the intent was to probably set up Anna's character (which it did an excellent job of) but it felt very dragged out at some parts. Otherwise, the plot was amazing and kept me flipping the page.

Anna, herself was a different type of character than I've read before. First of all, she has a lot of trauma from a past event that still haunts her and she developed depression from this. She doesn't really know that she has depression though because she is in such deep denial, evident through the many wine bottles she goes through and the medication she misuses. This all led her to be an unreliable narrator because she has so little self-awareness and was constantly confused. At this point, I was like I don't know who to trust in this book anymore. KEY TIP: Don't trust anybody. Also, Anna's obsessed with black and white crime films, and I thought that was an interesting niche.

The other characters in this book were so aggravating. David, Anna's tenant, was mysteriously vague and his purpose in the book was distracting. The Russell's (the new family) seemed like such a nuclear family, and that was immediately off-putting. I think all the characters in this book had double motives which also made me scratch out my hair because the minute you think might understand what was happening, A.J. Finn is like nope not today. The characters all provided such amazing support and conflict for Anna though. Like some of them pushed her exactly when she needed. Anna wasn't healing from her trauma, she was living in denial that was harming other people which was a constant struggle for her in this book.

The twists in this book were so good too. Like they were perfectly placed and provided enough of a punch that I was genuinely shocked. It was surprising and oddly uncomfortable. One twist made me sad and the other made me angry but both were really well executed. The constant integration of mental health and actual psychological cases and issues that happen in the world was also another thing that made this an interesting read. I've always been interested in psychology, but this book let me see how a psychologist would handle certain situations and the effect of long-standing trauma has on a person.

Anywho, I think everyone should read this book ASAP because it actually was so thrilling. This is such a well thought out psychological thriller, that I think many people will like.

Quotes

"Watching is like nature photography: You don't interfere with the wildlife"

"I am locked in. I am locked out."

"I was born lonely, she'd answered. I wasn't. I was made lonely"

"My dear girl, you cannot keep bumping your head against reality and saying it is not there"